Tenancy bond programme

About the project

Te Riu Kairangi programme has replaced the 26-year-old paper-based bond system with ABODE for staff and Bond Hub and a Business-to-Business connection for Property Management Software connected to ABODE for customers. The modernised service supports digital lodgements, refunds and changes to tenancy details. It gives customers greater visibility of bond records and reduces reliance on paper forms and manual processing. More than 406,000 records were migrated from the legacy system as part of the transition. The programme has replaced the legacy tenancy bond system with a modern digital platform. The new service is live and delivery is reporting Green.

Current focus

Formal closure, benefits handover and completion of governance reporting.

Latest update

The last release for the digital platforms has successfully gone live. The programme is completing formal close-out activities, with the closure report scheduled for internal governance consideration on 21 September 2026.

Current position

The programme is on track. No return-to-green action is required.

Expected benefits

• Faster and more convenient digital bond services for landlords and tenants.

• Reduced reliance on the old system and manual processing.

• Improved information quality, service reliability and operational efficiency.

• A stronger platform for maintaining and improving tenancy bond services.

These benefits are extracted from the Benefits Realisation Plan.

Latest Change Request

Change Request type: Financial and Schedule

Why: The change was required because the completed Self-Service Phase 2 designs increased vendor delivery costs, rescheduled go-live to 29 June 2026, and required changes to a vendor API development. It also funded residual bond migration and data-quality fixes needed to decommission Bond 2000, requiring additional Capex and Opex beyond existing programme forecast and contingency, still within cabinet approved budget.

Schedule: 17 August 2026

Financial: Increased costs by $760,000, WOLC $38,901,741 to $39,661,741 (within cabinet approved WOLC budget)

Benefit: Benefit number 4 on the Benefits Map was changed, noting an increase in the expected financial gain from $8,200,000 to $11,658,000 over a 4-year period, following a review by Finance.

Approved on 19 July 2026